Umlaut is all about capturing those special moments in nature. I am passionate about plants and want to share this passion with you. Each piece of jewellery starts with a plant harvested from around Vancouver BC. The plants we choose are usually edible or medicinal in some way.
One of the questions I get asked all the time is...
"how do you get the botanical prints on the silver jewellery?"
The process starts with some plant foraging. I'm one of those people that is always looking down at the side of the road or the trail with my plant identifying app ready, searching for new plants that might work for the next piece of jewellery. The hard part is finding leaves or flowers small enough to fit on such dainty jewellery.
Once I've found the perfect specimen it's time to make a mould of the plant. This creates an embossed imprint on the final piece.
After that I use a product called fine silver clay which is basically fine silver powder mixed with a binding agent. It's actually soft like clay and can be rolled into the plant moulds to transfer the plant prints.
Once the clay is dry it needs to be fired. The firing process burns away the binding agent and fuses together the silver particles, leaving a solid fine silver piece.
